Lillian had a list of things she had to do before going to town, maybe too many things, but her master demanded they needed to be done. Lillian looked at the list and smiled as she got all of it done except for one thing, brush the horses. The horses loved her, and she didn't count them as work since they were more like her friends. Lillian had been a slave to this family ever since she could remember, and they reminded her that she was just that. Nothing more, just an enslaved person that could do everything from milking the cows to babysitting and even sewing, which she hated but had to do it a lot anyway. She missed the days when the first masters had taught her things and treated her like a person, but when they died and the children took over, they branded her like a horse.

Their daughter left and married some rich man while she was stuck with a man she knew she didn't raise. Lillian tried hard to make both children good, but both ended up selfish and hateful to her. Danny was her new master's name, Sir Danny Mires, and it was always Mr. Mires in any setting. His parents were kind to her and even granted her freedom when they passed, but the children refused. Lillian didn't mind much, mainly because this family was all she knew.

She finished cleaning the floor and sighed weakly as her dress was utterly wet now. Danny walked in and kicked over the bucket, and chuckled. Joy sighed but smiled a bit, trying to hold her tongue.

"You need to change; you look like a slob. Make sure you wear something nice," he informed.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mires, I will look good enough to go to town with you," she informed.

"Good, by the way, make sure you stay out of sight. I'm getting a whore tonight, and I don't want you bothering me," he informed.

"Am I staying in the barn again?" She asked softly.

"Well, you aren't sleeping in a bed if that is what you're asking. Enslaved people must learn that their master's needs come first, not second. Your bed is no concern, and if I catch you with anyone, I will sell you," he growled.

Lilian wasn't allowed to date or have friends. It was lonely at times, so she talked to the animals she cared for and tried making stories to pass the time and read. Lilian loved learning about living creatures and monsters, too. She nodded and started to clean up the water. She went to the tinny house he made just for her behind the house. It was just wooden walls and a roof with a hay bed. Her clothes were on a chest, and she took out a dress and smiled a bit.

She got that dress for her thirtieth birthday. She decided to take off her wet clothes and change them. She fixed her hair, and she looked into the broken mirror before walking back to the large house.

"Don't forget tomorrow I'm leaving for a month, and you need to make sure everything is clean when I come back; I might come back home earlier," he informed as she nodded.

Lillian walked next to the horse as he headed into town. It was a long walk, but she enjoyed the quiet and seeing all the beautiful plants. Lillian picked up a couple of flowers and added them to her braid. When they went into town, it was busier than she ever expected it would be on a Sunday afternoon. She saw children playing in the streets and saw people that weren't from around here at all. Lillian wished she was allowed to talk to them but being a slave had several disadvantages.

Lillian heard a bard singing away and smiled a bit as she saw him pass by. Men like him never survived that long in places like this, and she decided to give him a nickname to put in her diary later. Dandelion seemed to suit him because the man didn't seem like he could take a punch from anyone, not even her.

"Come with me, Lillian Joy, now!" He ordered, not realizing she had been staring at the man.

Lillian Joy Maze was her full name, but Lillian was the name his mother would name their second daughter if they had one, but they never did when she came along. He hated her for her name and what she was, even though she had no idea what she was. She was just ageless, an ageless enslaved person.

Lillian quickly hurried back to Danny's side, and they went to the inn. He ordered the room with a whore, and she sat quietly at a table writing about Dandelion so that she wouldn't forget to draw him later. Then Lillian heard the bard again, but then it sounded like he got hit by someone. Lillian tried not to laugh as he came in with a man with white hair and yellow eyes. She had to look away from them because she was blushing so hard.

It was easy for her to do it mainly because Danny usually bought women, and the men were used for more challenging labor and were kept on separate areas of land he owned and managed by someone else. She was also timid and seeing the bard again after she thought she would never see him again made her wish she has never seen him in the first place. What if he looked over her shoulder and saw her drawing him?! She would be so embarrassed if she gave him the nickname Dandelion!

"Geralt, I am going to be busy the rest of the day," Jaskier informed as he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

The woman had long blond hair and flowers in her braided hair. The woman had the bluest eyes, and she was blushing up a storm already; she was trying to keep her eyes on a book she had, but Jaskier could already tell this girl was the only one for him. Geralt looked over at the girl after Jaskier hit his chest as he was about bolt over to her. Geralt saw her and was surprised a girl like her was there. The woman seemed to ignore all the men coming to her table, and he was slightly taken back by that.

The woman wasn't dressed like a whore, nor did she act like one, and then when his yellows locked on her blue ones, he felt his whole body yearn for her to be in his bed tonight. She seemed so innocent; she was. Many men were with her, but she didn't seem to catch on. Geralt had lost interest in sleeping with her because she was a virgin. But now curious on why she was there at all. Places like this weren't for innocent women like her. He just wanted to talk to her, oddly enough, he was never really interested in just talking to anyone, not even Jaskier, but she seemed worth talking to. There were many men around her than he cared for, so he decided to get a room.

"We don't serve your kind here," the man snarled, making some of the other men stand up.

"He is just a witcher here for a job. The witcher asked you for a room, not your firstborn or daughter. At least let him spend his coin where he likes. That man might go somewhere else that will accept him, and you will lose business from the other witchers that pass threw," Joy informed as some men looked at her oddly, and some looked like they were going to kill her.

"I don't take orders from young girls!" The man growled.

"I didn't say you had to; I was explaining why you should reconsider it. The witcher might save you by sheer chance in the future because he's here. Not all creatures are monsters, but they look a bit different than we do, so immediately, they are. He might be the nicest guy you've ever met, but because you assume he is a monster, he will act coldly toward you. Never assume a book by its cover; the book may surprise you," she informed as the innkeeper looked at her.

Geralt looked over, and she smiled at him as the men started leaving her, realizing she would stand up for the monster. She had good intentions, but now she would be a target. She barely looked over twenty-three years old, and she didn't look like she was able to fight back if anything happened to her.

"You can stay here, but I'm charging you double for your trouble some nature," he informed.

Jaskier was now more in love with this girl than he could explain. She was brilliant, and her body was calling to him. He sat next to her, but she immediately stood up as her master came out of his room. Probably inspecting his whore he got, and when he saw all the men around her, he was angry.

Danny growled and quickly grabbed Lillian's arm, forcing her outside. He started taking the flowers out of her hair and took her hair out of the braid she had it in. Danny slapped her across the face, which Joy was used to by now, and she looked down at the ground. He threw her book on the ground and the pen and pencil she had with her.

"You are such a fucking whore! Your lucky I don't fancy freaks; otherwise, I would be having you screaming! I don't want my slaves pregnant! Especially you, I don't want whatever kind you are. I still can't my parents even let you stay with us! You aren't fit to walk on the ground; I do! Stay away from the men; I will sell off your child if you have one, got it!" He growled as she nodded with tears in her eyes.

"I can't hear you!" He growled as he pinned her against the wall.

"Yes, Mr. Mires, I understand," she said as Danny set Lillian down and hit her again.

"Good, now stay with the horses, and I don't want to see you again until I am ready to leave," he hissed as Joy collected her things and headed to the barn.

She saw Geralt's horse and the horse her master rode named Ash, and she sat down quietly and began to cry.

"I helped raise him! Why is he acting like this?! His parents weren't horrible to me at all, and they treated me like family, and now that brat has money and thinks he owns me! It's my fault I let him, but my job was to protect the children. He may not be a child anymore, but it is still my job. Who am I kidding? I have nowhere to go nor a job. If I left now, he would hunt me down and sell me off. Ash, you are such a lucky horse. You don't have to worry about human problems like me. I'm not even human," she sighed as she dried her eyes as Roach moved closer and licked her face.

"You are such a doll; maybe I should draw you first. I will try to make you look decent, but my artwork isn't good. Well, not as good as my monster hunting," she said as she smiled and petted Roach.

"I can't believe she is married!" Jaskier sighed as Geralt hmmed in response.

Geralt knew she wasn't, the way that man grabbed her, then heard the conversation next to the building. He knew that horrible person had enslaved her. Geralt hated to think a nice girl like that didn't deserve to be treated like that, mainly because the woman ignored the men. The men came to her because she was beautiful and very kind. Enslaved people didn't own anything, so she was stuck there in that hell with him. The woman could probably only cook and clean, and that was it, but at least she wasn't being forced to sleep with that man if you could even call him a man for hitting a woman for being as kind as she was.

"How many kids do you think they have?" He asked.

"Why ask?" Geralt asked.

"Well, that man, I don't like him. Maybe I could convince her to leave him," he informed.

"She isn't married to him; she is a slave and an abused one at that," he mostly informed himself.

"Then help her; I know you can," Jaskier informed.

"No, I can't; he owns her, so by the law of slavery, she is his property, and he can do whatever he wants with her. Even feed her to a hungry monster if he so wishes," he explained.

"But Geralt, she is a young girl; her family probably sold her to make ends meet. She doesn't deserve to be mistreated because of it," Jaskier informed.

"She isn't my problem," he informed.

"Well, she will be when he finally kills her, and we find her body. Men like that think they can do whatever they want; it isn't fair. For all we know, she could have been taken from her family by force when she was young," he said.

"Doesn't matter; that man owns her," he said.

Geralt did feel guilty; the woman was kind and stood up for him, which may be why he liked her. The young woman was different; he also admired her beautiful blue eyes. Geralt didn't understand why he did, but he did. Since most likely, she was going to be staying with the horses. Maybe Jaskier would leave him alone with her for a bit.

"I hope you can sleep easy when she does get hurt or worse," Jaskier said, "I know I'm not."

Jaskier didn't know where she was, so he tried to sing to get money. Maybe he wouldn't think about her; he was going to see if he could buy her. Night fell, and Jaskier was in his room sleeping. Geralt went outside and saw the flowers in her hair lying in the dirt. He saw the ribbon that was in her hair and picked it up, and headed to the barn with the horses.

"So, what do you think? I think it looks a lot like you. I still can't pick a name for you yet. I bet you have seen a lot," she sighed as she flipped threw the pages and showed the horses the pictures she drew of Geralt and Jaskier.

Her long blond hair was out of the braid, and she seemed lonely. The young woman got comfortable next to the horses and sighed a bit. The woman was about to blow out the lantern when Geralt came in, and she jumped a bit in shock. She got up and back up to Ash, who pushed her back over.

"Hey! I just wanted to stand! I would like it if you stop pushing me over," she said as she got up.

"Talking to the horses?" Geralt asked as she smiled a bit.

"You must think I'm crazy; I prefer horses over people sometimes," she informed.

"I talk to Roach often," he said as she looked at him oddly.

"So that is your name, the name you gave her was in a different language, but you translated it to a common tongue, so her name is Roach," she said as he walked closer to Roach, and she backed off and almost hid behind Ash.

"Scared of me?" He asked.

"No, I am just not accustomed to being alone with a man unless it's my master or my horses," she informed.

"You never been alone with another man?" He asked as she turned red.

"No...the family that had me treated me like I was part of the family until the parents died. Then the children I helped raise ensured I was a proper slave,' she answered.

"Then why aren't you married?" He asked.

"Married?! Me? I could never... I have a problem, and until I figure out how to fix it, then I will, but until then, I can't. Also, my master will never let me. He wants me to suffer for what happened to his parents. What's sad is that I helped raise him. You would think he would turn out better," she said as he looked at her, confused.

"He has to be in his forties; you can't be older than twenty-two," he answered.

"Thank you, but I'm sixty years old. I stopped aging at twenty. I wish I didn't," she said as she looked down at her book and picked it up.

"You don't know what you are?" He asked as she shook her head no.

"I was a baby when they took me in, Lillian Joy Maze; Mr. Mires calls me Joy.
He hates calling me Lillian, which was supposed to be their first daughter's name, and I got it instead. The kids don't consider me family," she sighed as she sat down on the grass.

"Geralt of Rivia, a witcher if you already didn't guess that," he said as she smiled.

"I did; I like to read," she smiled, "I didn't know your name, so I put it in as Ash. I also like to draw."

She gave him her notebook he saw her drawings. He was impressed. He saw his drawing, and she looked at it to see what he thought.

"You don't have to be enslaved; these are not bad, beautiful. Jaskier, however, wouldn't be so happy you called him Dandelion," he informed with a slight smile.

"Well, he doesn't look like he can take a punch. You should probably leave; if my master finds you here, he might think I slept with you," she said softly.

"It's going to get colder tonight; maybe you should get a room," he said.

"Can't? I was ordered to stay here," she said.

"You don't have to live like this; all you have to do is leave and start over," he said as she sighed.

She lifted her sleeve and showed him the branding he put on her.

"It would be hard explaining that to people. It's a forever marker; it was nice talking to someone other than the horses for once. You are fortunate to have Jaskier by your side. I have no one but myself," she said as he smiled a bit.

Geralt wanted to stay, but that would sell her if caught with him. Even though witchers couldn't have children, he wishes he could now. But this world was filled with monsters, and he had people like her to protect. Maybe one day he would find her again but happier and maybe free.